


da Vinci and Nobel

by Scribe32oz



Series: Someday [4]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 00:43:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14032395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribe32oz/pseuds/Scribe32oz
Summary: Peter Standish and Tommy Jackson's plan to collect a $10,000 reward to build the first motor wagon results in a few design flaws.





	da Vinci and Nobel

This was going to end badly.

Penelope Standish watched her twin brother Peter and his partner in crime, or as he liked to put it, his co-inventor partner, Tommy Jackson devised their latest invention and knew two things. One it was going to end badly and two, she was going to end up getting dirty when it did.

“This is going to work,” Peter said to her confidently, as they stood inside the confines of the seldom used garden shed attached to the Standish home, which was home to all the odds and ends, momma and daddy didn’t know what to do with. It had ended up being commandeered as Peter’s workshop, since he was the only Standish who liked menial labour. “We’re gonna build our very own, motor wagon and win $10,000!”

“Yeah,” Tommy grinned, working with copper tubing they had pooled their allowance to buy and or liberated from old machinery, they found lying around in the scrap yard. “If we make this work, then we can win the state prize in Wisconsin! I saw it in the Clarion News. It’s the wave of the future Penny! You got to get on board!”

“Wisconsin?” Penny rolled her eyes. “You two aren’t even allowed out of town! Let alone Wisconsin!”

“When we get this thing going,” Peter said confidently, “we’ll get there on our own, we won’t even need horses. You’ll see.”

“I see you two getting grounded until you’re 80. Just don’t blow anything up or burn it down.”

This was usually how any kind of invention Peter and Tommy built together ended up. At the age of ten, both boys were responsible for more property damage than all the children of the seven put together. While both were the smartest among them by their ability to build things and know how everything worked, their pursuit of scientific discovery usually led to groundings and in one instance, a day in the jailhouse when they accidentally set fire to Uncle Vin’s wagon.

“It’s going to be fine Penny!” Peter assured. “It’s perfectly safe, in fact, you can ride it with us.”

“I am not getting on that thing,” She pointed at the contraption the duo had built out of a push cart which they claimed was going to be replacing horses. “I am a lady, and a lady only rides on a horse a carriage, with footmen and if possible, a gentleman, who may be the Prince of England.”

“England?” Tommy rolled his eyes. “Didn’t we fight a war to keep them out of America? Why would you want to be riding with some prince?”

“Because the King is already married,” Penny replied. “He is going to escort me to my first performance on stage, you know like a royal performance with Lily Langtry.”

Both boys groaned, having heard about the famed Lily Langtry to ad nauseum.

“How are you my twin?” Peter grumbled before going back to putting the final touches on the small push cart, to be powered by a rather clumsy looking flash steam engine he and Tommy had been building all month. The two boys were often co-conspirators, building all kinds of weird inventions. While most of them never work, the damage they usually caused was quite entertaining.

“Why would you want to build a motor wagon anyway?” Penny asked the two boys. “We have perfectly good horses. I wouldn’t want to give up Chaucer to ride that.”

“You still ride Chaucer?” Tommy looked at Peter. “Ain’t he like a million years old?”

“She doesn’t ride it,” Peter said from beneath the push cart, using the tools he’d borrowed from Uncle Josiah since daddy didn’t know what tools were. “She just feeds him carrots all day. Chaucer just hangs around the Lucky Seven ranch and has lots of girlfriends.”

“He means studs,” Penny said helpfully. Boys could be so immature.

“Why would you even want one girlfriend? Let alone many?” Tommy wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“God you’re both stupid,” Penny rolled her eyes.

“Just for that, you’re not getting any of the $10,000 when we win it.” Tommy said sourly.

Before Penny could respond, Peter climbed out from beneath the cart and dusted off his hands. “Okay, we’re ready to try it out.”

“Alright,” Tommy grinned. “I’ll start the fire.”

The instant the word fire was mentioned from Tommy Jackson’s lips, Penny knew something bad was going to happen.

* * *

The first thing the contraption did once Tommy and Peter brought it to life was sputter and heave, making a groaning sound that didn’t at all sound healthy. The copper tube rattled and pot belly motor started making knocking noises. This was soon followed by thick smoke which Peter was certain was steam but Penny knew was smoke, since it left her nice clean clothes black and made it difficult to breathe in the shed. When it rattled uneasily on the wheels it was perched, Penny decided to open the shed door so they didn’t suffocate.

“It’s not moving,” Penny pointed out impatiently, wanting both boys to put an end to this foolishness before the whole thing exploded or worse.

“Maybe I just need to make a slight adjustment,” Peter frowned and leaned forward to do just that.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and the room filled with a cloud of dark, billowing smoke. The three children fell backward as the push cart sped out of the shed, bolting past the doors like a runaway horse, breaking wood and creating splinters as it progressed on its way. Proving decisively that the motor designed was capable of working quite well, the children watched in horror as it rumbled across Julia Standish’s manicured garden.

“Not momma’s rose bush!” Penny winched as the hellish cart thundered over her mother’s roses, leaving petals and leaves scattered across the grass like the carnage on the battlefields of Gettysburg.

The cart kept going.

“It’s going into the street!” Tommy cried, watching their invention continue on its way, past the boundaries of the Standish property line.

“But look at it go!” Peter said proudly, still impressed by its progress even if there were a few kinks to iron out of the design. Trial and error was all a part of the scientific process.

“Are you kidding me?” Tommy glared at him. “We ARE going to be grounded until we’re 80!”

Realising that this could be a bad thing, Peter looked at Tommy, “maybe we ought to catch up with it!”

“Oh, you think?” Tommy snapped, already running.

Tommy who was starting to think this partnership of theirs might be more trouble than it was worth, bolted after their runaway invention which at this point was continuing down the street, sputtering smoke and making sounds like a grizzled old prospector suffering from consumption.

“Watch out Mrs Potter!” Penny shouted in dismay.

Gloria Potter who chose that moment to cross the street, looked up to see a push cart coming at her. The woman uttered a short cry before staggering out of the way, only to trip and land in a puddle of what Penny _really_ hoped was water in the middle of the street.

“Oh God,” Penny slapped her hand across her face. Could this get any worse?

* * *

  
Ezra Standish was in the Standish Saloon with his associates, enjoying an afternoon drink and a game of cards when he heard screams and noises of commotion. Looking up from his rather good hand, he glanced over his shoulder through the batwing doors, just in time to see a rather odd construct of copper tubing, an iron drum and a push cart rumbling by.

“RUN FASTER TOMMY! YOU CAN CATCH IT!”

“WHY DO I HAVE TO CATCH IT? IT’S YOUR IDEA PETER!”

“WATCH OUT MR WATSON!”  
  
Ezra faced front, meeting the gazes of Nathan Jackson who was seated across the table from him, presently rubbing his nose. Josiah, Vin and Chris could only look on sympathetically. There was a tremendous crash, more screams and both fathers let out a groan, realising their friendly card game was over.

“Well think of it this way,” Chris Larabee grinned. “He’s raising Columbus,” he glanced at Vin. “You two got da Vinci and Nobel.”

 

 


End file.
